Category Archives: Country: Scotland

How’s it going guys? Thanks for checking back in on another craft beer review. For today’s tasting I’m going to be trying the Orkney Red MacGregor brewed by the Orkney Brewery located in Orkney, Scotland.

I’m still new to the Orkney line of beers, so I haven’t really made up my mind as to what I think of them as a whole yet, but I’m definitely going to have fun giving each one a test drive.

From the website, sinclairbreweries.co.uk, they provided us with this tid bit of information regarding the Red MacGregor.

Red Macgregor is a unique beer: delicate and sophisticated yet the robust cask conditioned version of this beer was the first Scottish beer to win the BIIA World Cask Beer Gold Medal.

Ok. Let’s turn this thing up.

This beer came in a 16.9 oz. bottle with a 4.0% ABV.

It poured a ruby red to deep burgundy color. A relatively easy discharge produced a medium sized, semi-smooth, off white head. The retention time was below average, however the lacing looked ok I thought.

The nose produced hints of fruity cherry and grape. A very agreeable and engaging sweet smelling toffee and/or caramel malt amalgamated itself with a congenial waft of lightly toasted dark breads. Overall, the bouquet wasn’t extremely complex or bold, but it was well suited. Definitely nothing off putting or out of place with this one.

The taste let the caramel malt and the slightly toasted breads stand out a bit more than they did in the aroma. The cherry and grape savors were there, however they were understated quite a bit to be honest. The maltiness was, without a doubt, the star of this show. Again, nothing too convoluted, yet nothing perplexing either.

The mouthfeel was medium bodied. It was very soft, smooth and delicate. It was semi-dry and the carbonation fell toward the medium side of things as well. The flavor vanished from the palate a little quicker than I would have liked, but that’s ok. It just tempted me to take another sip a little quicker than normal.

Yeah, I thought this was a decent beer for sure. It’s not the best brew I’ve ever had, but it’s worth a try if you happen to run across it. It’s an easy drink and with the low ABV a person could enjoy a few of these during one session and not have any problem whatsoever. It has a lot of positive atributes. Most notably when it warmed and the breads and malts began to shine. With that being said, give the Orkney Red MacGregor a try and see what you think. Be sure to tell me of your opinion when you do.